The Refugee Debate

There's been a whole lot of talk on the issue of Syrian refugees lately. While President Obama has assured us that the refugees are safe and pose no threat to security, many state governors aren't buying it.  Over half of the nation's governors have recently announced that they will not accept any of these "new residents" into their states until they are fully vetted. But is being "vetted" really enough?

In a recent New York Post article*, a Syrian community leader from NYC pointed out that documents are very easily obtained in Syria. And although they are not technically "forged", they can be far from legitimate. Syrian government officials can often be bribed to give false papers to an individual. And once they have their "official" credentials, they head to a country near you and claim refugee status.

The community leader also said that ISIS terrorists. posing as civil war refugees, have already entered the United States. These "refugees" have since joined terrorist sleeper cells who are waiting to be activated. Wow, that makes you feel good, huh?

Aside from the "legitimate" refugees, we also have to worry about the ones who simply waltz across our southern border. This Department of Homeland Security has confirmed that eight illegal Syrians attempted to cross into Texas from Mexico on Monday**.

According to a recent poll, the majority of Americans do not want to admit Syrian refugees at this time. Friday's terrorist attack in Paris has certainly awakened many people to the potential dangers of taking in hoards of immigrants from Muslim countries. This has promoted many from the left to call the skeptics uncaring, Islamaphobic and, in some cases, unAmerican. I think this is a bit unfair. While most Americans can certainly sympathize with the people affected by what's going on in Syria, should we really risk national security by opening our arms and turning a blind eye? To those who think we should, I'd like to ask, "At what point does America come first?"

The current annual cap on worldwide refugees into the US is 70,000. The Obama administration is planning on increasing that number to 100,000 by 2017. Since 2012, there have been been roughly 2000 refugees from Syria who are scattered all over the country. The Obama administration is seeking to offer residency to 10,000 new Syrian refugees. Expect this to be a hot topic in upcoming weeks.

Today, the House of Representatives passed a bill that will require additional background checks for Syrian refugees. The bill was supported overwhelmingly by Republicans but there were also 47 Democrats who voted in favor of it. While the White House is calling these measures unpractical and unnecessary, a majority of Republicans have called this a common sense approach to address security concerns. In response, President Obama has said that the Republicans are "scared of three-year-old orphans" and has vowed to veto the bill. Since the bill passed by a vote of 289-147, it should override a Presidential veto. But will the 47 Democrats defy the President if they are asked to sustain his veto? Hmm....

Some leaders, such as Senator Ted Cruz, have suggested that we use a "religious test" to screen out Muslim refugees from countries that where terrorists have a strong presence and where applicants can not be properly vetted. President Obama, to no one's surprise, has called this "shameful" and "not American".  For most of his campaign, Republicans have often described the President in same the manner.

Stay tuned, this one's not going away any time soon......

kw

* http://nypost.com/2015/11/19/syrian-community-leader-isis-is-already-in-new-york-city/

** http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2015/11/18/report-8-syrians-caught-at-texas-border-in-laredo/